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Costa Rican authorities are investigating the possible coordination of intelligence agencies from the Nicaraguan regime in the assassination of retired Major Roberto Samcam, according to information from the judicial file reported by La Nación.
The judicial file, of which La Nación says it has a copy, includes testimony from an anonymous source who “did not want to be identified.” This informant stated that members of the Directorate of Military Intelligence and Counterintelligence (DICIM) and the G2, both Nicaraguan intelligence agencies, allegedly planned the assassination while operating in Costa Rica.
Samcam was murdered on June 19, 2025, at his home in Moravia, San José, Costa Rica. The Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) and the Prosecutor’s Office arrested four suspects in the crime on September 12, 2025, while one of the alleged hitmen remains at large.
A suspect linked to the Army
The anonymous source mentioned in the file provided a Facebook profile of a person believed to be one of the masterminds behind the assassination. According to the informant, this individual received training in intelligence, assassination, and sabotage in Cuba and Russia. He is also linked to “Sócrates Sandino,” a Nicaraguan military unit from the 1980s, and to General Julio César Avilés, the current head of the Nicaraguan Army.
The judicial file mentions that this suspect “was in Nicaragua not long ago” and that “about a month ago” he was in meetings with the top leadership of the Nicaraguan Army. These movements suggest possible coordination of the crime.
Roberto Samcam, 67, was a vocal critic of the Nicaraguan Army for its involvement in the repression and killing of unarmed citizens during the 2018 protests. He died after being shot twice in a leg, twice in the abdomen, and additional shots in the chest and armpits.
A photo of Rosario Murillo on a telephone
The Costa Rican outlet CR Hoy reported that the judicial file indicates that one of the suspects arrested on September 12, named Luis Orozco González, was found with a photograph of the “co-president,” Rosario Murillo.
“This photograph draws attention within the files located, as it is the only photo of politicians found on the mobile device and given the victimology of the deceased, who was a well-known opponent of the Nicaraguan regime,” the file cited by CR Hoy states.
The Costa Rican media outlet details that agents from the Homicide Section of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) “faced several obstacles while gathering information about Samcam’s murder,” including neighbors in Tibás refusing to hand over security camera footage from their homes out of fear of a gang that controls the area.
“The investigators went through several areas in the north of the capital to collect audiovisual evidence. The biggest challenge they faced was in the León XIII housing complex in Tibás,” the report mentions.
According to the document accessed by CR Hoy, the most troubled area of that neighborhood is controlled by a drug dealer known as Shaggy, which is why residents are afraid to hand over footage from their security cameras.
Crime Allegedly Ordered from Nicaragua
Costa Rican authorities have not confirmed the motive for the crime. However, Attorney General Carlo Díaz did not rule out a political motive.
“One of the lines of investigation points to the fact that this was apparently an order from the Nicaraguan Army. We are not going to be satisfied with arresting those who carried out the execution; we are going to go to the ultimate consequences trying to determine who ordered this homicide,” said Diaz during the capture of the four suspects.
The Costa Rican official emphasized that the investigation remains open to fully identify the intellectual authors of the crime.
The Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) has requested cooperation to identify and arrest the shooter: a young man around 20 years old, surnamed Carvajal.
The hitman entered the condominium where Samcam lived on June 19, 2025, proceeded to a building, and went up to the second floor to reach Samcam’s apartment. Once he had the victim in his sights, he shot him repeatedly, Costa Rican authorities reported.
The Arrested Suspects
Three of the four suspects detained for Samcam’s murder were placed in six months of preventive detention by a criminal court.
- Danilo Chaves Medina, 35, arrested in Cañas on Thursday, September 11, 2025. Identified as the intermediary between the intellectual authors and the material perpetrators of the assassination.
- Bryan Robles Salas, 23, arrested during a raid in the León XIII housing complex, San José. Believed to be one of the transporters involved.
- Luis Orozco González, 33, arrested in a public street. Believed to be one of the transporters involved.
Stephanie Chacón Guillen, 30, arrested in a public street. Identified as the wife of the intermediary, who allegedly paid 50,000 colones (around $100) for the transport of the perpetrators. She was released after a hearing on September 13–14, 2025.
The OIJ continues to search for Luis Carvajal Fernández, 20, who is believed to be the gunman.
